I think when I realised how hard I was finding it to find ten minutes was when I realised how much I needed to.

And I started combining it with using the orthopaedic pillow recommended by another friend and incredibly talented osteopath Alison Durant.

Ten minute a day lying flat.

Set a timer.

No scrolling, no phone, no reading.

Just be there, lying flat.

It’s so much more powerful than it sounds in terms of physical realignment and energetic alignment and when I do it I feel so much more rested, restored and nurtured than you would ever think just ten minutes could bring.

I’m posting this as I’m still aware that its kind of ridiculous that some days I still don’t find time to do it - and this is my commitment to do so.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY WEEKLY (ISH) LETTER

Recipes, foodie stories and inspiration for a happy + healthy Tiniest Thai way of life.

It's about having wanted a garden, putting my name down for a local garden plot, and some years later getting to the top of the waiting list, getting my garden and realising I didn't enjoy it or choose to spend my time there.

At the time I wrote it, I was really writing about how we show by our actions and our choices what's really important to us, and that I wasn't choosing the garden.

And at the time, I still loved the idea of having this garden and thought that perhaps it just wasn't the right time for me ... so I went back on the waiting list.

And again at that time, I half suspected that I somehow just preferred being on the waiting list - so I could enjoy the anticipation of the garden and how next time I had it I would be totally at one with it, growing plants to pick to cook for dinner that same day (the way I enjoy it when I'm at my parents, where my dad gardens and there's the vegetables, the orchard, the fruit trees).

Anyway.

Here we are three years on and I got the key back to the gardens and my own little raised bed patch!

And again, I day-dreamed about picking the tomatoes and the herbs and the pak choi and all of it, ready to cook fresh that night for dinner.

Ahhhh AND IT'S SO OBVIOUS, ISN'T IT?

I was setting the wrong goal, asking for the wrong outcome for me, working towards the wrong dream!

I didn't want to garden and grow things.

I wanted to pick the freshest vegetables and salads and herbs and fruit to eat and cook with.

So I gave the key back again and despite being offered a return to the waiting list I said no this time.

At the same time, a part of the communal gardens where I live, was being turned from overgrown bushes into a beautiful space with raised beds, mostly for us all to help ourselves and enjoy the produce - a communal kitchen garden that I see every day when I look out the window.

I love watching it all grow - and I love taking a courgette, a handful of mixed salad leaves, a few tomatoes ... to make dinner.

So be careful what you wish for ...

Or rather, be very specific about what you wish for!

Set a goal for having a garden and no doubt you'll get a garden.

But if you really wanted fresh produce from the garden, well, that's a different goal ...

I've had this happen before - in another, very beautiful way - a different way, a different example but the same principle.

Several years ago, I set a goal, my DREAM to have a house on the beach.

I want to be able to be by the sea more often, to be able to walk out the door and be there on the beach - in my dream especially in winter, where it's empty, a huge beach to walk along, watching the waves and the surf, drinking in that air, hearing that crashing noise of the sea ... just being there and having that on my doorstep.

So there it was - my beach house dream.

I journaled and meditated and kept it in my mind's eye, I could SEE it ... and I changed my passwords so every day I'm typing and retyping 'mybeachhouse'.

And then .... my sister and her family moved from where they were in a smaller house high on the cliffs above the sea to a much larger house right there, round the corner from the beach. They have spare rooms and one of the attic bedrooms I always feel is 'my room'.

I realised that I had it then, I had my 'beach house' by being able to stay with my family where they have room for me - any time really I want and I get to be with people I love too.

Without worrying about keeping a house looked after while I'm not there, without worry at all.

So it might not be 'my' beach house, but then again it is.

It's where I get to go and be on the beach - oh and yes it is exactly the beach of my dreams too. It's where I love to go to walk and write and escape and dream - and chat and laugh and have fun too - how perfect, how much more perfect really than it being just me.

I've realised I need to be specific about what my goals are if I want to achieve them.

I got 'my beach house' - just in a different way than I'd been imagining.

And I got the garden I wanted ... and realised it wasn't the garden in itself that I'd been after - it was the produce from the garden.

I really love these little lessons in being super-clear with myself exactly what it is that I want and dream of and choose to call in and bring to life.

Nothing dramatic, but just ... unsure, and the strange feeling has been that I'm unsure of what I want. Of what I want to be, to do, to have, unsure of what I'm aiming for, or what my goals are.

And that in itself is what's making me feel a little lost as I'm usually very sure of my goals, no matter how often, how much they change - that's all fine - but I know what they are.

And I like to feel decisive as well, I like to feel sure - it's a combination that makes me feel good - feeling very sure, but at the same time very open to changing what it is I'm feeling sure about.

But for most of this year ... I don't know.

And now, sitting here on yet another gorgeous hot summer day, over the last couple of days of yet more gorgeous hot summer days ... I've come to realise something.

What I've been doing is fighting that feeling and willing myself, demanding of myself to just do it ... just DECIDE something, set a goal, anything - but just decide!

I kept trying - YEAH NOW I KNOW - I said time and time again.

I kept trying ... and I kept lying.

I didn't know.

It hasn't felt great and I've wrestled with it - how this TRYING and not somehow finding it makes me feel weak and indecisive and slow ...

I've blamed my indecision and lacklustre-ness for putting on a few pounds, for sleeping more, for writing less, creating less ... for FEELING less.

Last Friday I kind of got hit round the head (in a good way!) - with looking at it the other way round.

TWO clear messages in one day, when I'm ready to hear them - oh yes, I hear you!

First, there was the quote that morning on my Chrome Momentum - I can't actually remember it now and didn't take a note of it, which I find interesting in itself - it's like I GOT the message I needed to hear and didn't need to keep the message itself.

Later that day I read an email from James Altucher (sometimes I read his emails, sometimes I don't, so I know this one I was meant to) and it was all about his daily practices. Oh, and I just went back to find the email and I can't ... so seems again, the message is that which I GOT from it, not his message in and of itself.

Ah, but also trusting myself - not checking back what it was I saw and read, trusting in what I learned and realised. I'm pretty sure his email was about NOT having goals but having processes.

These two messages, in one day, and I feel like I've stumbled across something totally new for me - that it's not always having a goal, deciding to achieve it, eyes on the horizon and one foot in front of the other.

NO.

Sometimes, it's not knowing but trusting in the practice.

Sometimes it's feeling lost, but choosing the process.

And so I used his framework to journal around what my own practices are ... for my Physical, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual habits.

My own framework, my processes, that I trust if I (in the main) follow, then I will find my own path through, and that doing this is ENOUGH, in and of itself, it's enough - and I'm open to where it takes me and what it shows me.

There are goals and adventures all around me that I'm not even aware of and I'm trusting that trusting in the process (and I can change my processes at any time of course) .. will open up something exciting and magical ... goals will be met and dreams realised that I didn't even know I had.

Turning it on its head feels good and it's also immediately stopped me feeling lost.

I KNOW again what I'm doing and what I'm doing is NOT setting a goal, an outcome, a dream ... not right now.

Right now, I'm choosing my practices, processes, habits.

THESE are mine ... what are yours?

PHYSICAL: walk 10k steps a day - make time for my beloved yoga - choose good food that nurtures and nourishes me and is aligned with where I am with choosing my happy weight - sleep around 11pm most nights.

I'm also going to be creating my dream body, step by tiny step, choice by tiny choice and choosing to WORK ON IT.

EMOTIONAL: cut out negative people who drag me down -spend time with and help those I love - be wholehearted - love myself in the same way - never feel I need to explain - I owe no-one an explanation.

MENTAL: journaling - write down 10 ideas a day - use my Duolingo app and keep learning a language - read something inspiring or do some of a course I'm taking or go back to something I've taken I'd like to go through again.

SPIRITUAL: meditation (keep using my Daily Calm) - read and learn more about Buddha's teachings and about philosophy - gratitude and forgiveness practice.

I'm feeling the best I've felt in a long while now that weight is off my shoulders of feeling I don't KNOW where I'm going or doing or what I want!

I choose to DO those things that make me feel great and see what comes up.

Everything will change again I know, but for now, this feels good - and freeing, and new. I'm interested to see what happens and what new ideas are now able to come to the surface.

GET YOUR 5-A-WEEK FROM THE TINIEST THAI!

Weekly(ish) recipes, foodie stories and inspiration for a happy + healthy Tiniest Thai way of life

I first chose a word for the year back in 2013, the year I changed my life, the year I became for the first time conscious, aware that it was entirely up to me to take responsibility for my life, for deciding what I wanted it to be and to creating that.

It was April really that year that it all became clear that this is what I had to do - so I gave in my notice at the job that really wasn't for me at all and was making me ill, and found another which would give me time and breathing space to see what else I wanted to do ... and the word ALIVE just gave itself to me.

It literally was as important as that, I felt that I had come alive, at last.

Only a few months later it was the start of 2014 and again, the word just came to me. It was BOLD and it was a perfect word for that time as I was so excited to see what I wanted to do and where I was going and to try things out and see what felt right - I needed some boldness to start doing different things - blogging more and also starting my supperclub, The Tiniest Thai in London.

It felt good, creative, a rush of being alive and bold and all this lovely free-flowing energy, like being rushed down a river, but staying upright with ease, surfing life.

And 2015 - well, I just couldn't wait for it! I felt a gathering momentum and that it would be the most amazing year and leaping point into something huge ... but I didn't settle on a word, nothing quite felt right ...

I tried out, tried on ... SOAR, PLAY, ACTION ... but nothing felt right and sometimes 2015 felt a struggle - like I was pushing too much, had expected so much. Towards the end of the year I thought perhaps DISCOVER or EXPERIMENT was more what the year had been about.

I'm wasn't sure any more that it felt right to me to set a word for a calendar year and to process things like this.

It feels a little rigid and as though I'm putting rules somehow around things ...

I set the intention of GRACE for 2016 and it took right through until the last quarter of 2017 (yep, I carried over this word into another year) until I felt at one with GRACE.

But what a huge change it has been - one of stepping into a way of feeling of being, rather than doing. One that needed that time and 2017 in particular felt a time of BECOMING and of BEING.

I spent a lot of time during 2017 travelling to Norfolk regularly to visit my mum, who's bedbound with heart failure and kidney failure. I visit on a Saturday every three weeks or so, a round trip of 6-7 hours. She reads suspense novels and I go out to get anything she fancies eating as she can't get it for herself of course.

I sit on the train watching the seasons change over the Fens, thinking about life, death, my grandparents, my childhood, the big wheel of history as the train rushes in a straight line under that big sky.

I have done less writing, and the supperclubs have taken a back seat.

I have felt more at one with the seasons, and I have been feeling conscious about pacing myself, thinking more about my health and not to get too tired - of prioritising what is important for me to do. This is new for me, to have this consciousness as I've always just run at things and relied on my strength and health to carry me through, not thinking at what cost.

I have felt quieter and more gentle, and I realised towards the end of the year that I felt stronger too for being so.

Feeling everything that swirls around, just out of reach, like something half dreamt, like dust motes in the sun out of the corner of your eye, like a fleeting memory, a kind of nostalgia, a fragment of thought, of everything that one is, we just ARE.

I did a lot less doing and lot more being.

And stepping into being rather than doing, felt like a state of grace to me. A surrender and a trust.

It feels that the intention of grace had to become a part of me ... saw me choosing to spend my energy and time on what nurtures me rather than what drives me.

It's felt a mini-hibernation in some ways, anchoring in some habits of journaling and of yoga, of sleeping and reading more, an odd sense of knowing the way ... allowing that to be what it is.

Where am I going? I light the way for myself.

Things are softer and kinder. Without rules and without processes.

A new way of being that doesn't need the beginning and end of the year to denote a new stage in itself.

But then again .... it does.

I watch the seasons change and feel at one with that rhythm of nature, at one with the old ways. I've been remembering how much from childhood I was fascinated with learning about natural remedies and medicines, about magic and ritual and healing, and I've started sharing some of this knowledge ... just a little, just when it feels right.

I've spent more time reading and learning about something I've always been interested in, numerolgy.

It's so fitting too for everything I've been feeling .. to learn about the energy of the year from its number ... and 2018 has the energy of the Master number 11 (2+0+1+8 = 11) ... 'my' number too with my birthday being 11/11.

And there it is then.

I do after all return to the beginning and end of a year, to the rhythm of life rather than a process and I am called to set a vibration rather than an intention or a word, to flow with the energy of this year.

That vibration swirls around me as a shawl of magic, of remembrance, of purpose, of comfort, of safety, of strength, of an old lamp on the end of a stick, shining a path through the snow, the dark earth, the daffodils, the warm sandy beach, the crunch of leaves that then fall and through the whole cycle again.

This year's vibration - as the year's energy will ebb and flow - I surround myself with and choose to seek out and to see and be at one with ... BEAUTY.

There is tons of information about numerolgy and about the energy of this year, but here's just a couple of features/resources I found interesting and helpful.

And HERE for a really comprehensive look. I had already settled on BEAUTY before reading this and love that 11 = Shambhala.

'The word ‘Shambhala’ resonates to the Master Number 11 in numerology… and is the perfect word to help us embrace the greater potential of our Universal 11 Year.

Shambhala is a sanskrit word that roughly translates to a place of peace, tranquility & happiness. Each of us has the FREEDOM in our hearts/minds to choose to experience Heaven here on Earth, a place of Shambhala. We have the choice to live our lives being kind to one another, to live in harmony with the Earth and in service to something greater than us.

Our Universal 11 Year is our wakeup call to remember Shambhala, to remember how beautiful the world feels when we experience our lives through our hearts and how when we choose to create Shambhala in everything we do we awaken the best in ourselves and inspire others to do the same.'

WANT MORE?

Get weekly(ish) recipes, foodie stories and inspiration for a happy + healthy Tiniest Thai way of life.

I've been asking myself these questions and journaling each morning on them for a week or so now, and my answers - well, there are definite patterns, things that come up, the same answers again and again.

Some only show up once or twice, sure, but ...

If I want to feel and be these things that I want to be?

Strong, serene, grounded, creative, connected to the world and its source.

Then I'm prioritising making space for:

* yoga

* being outdoors in nature, preferably the beach

* a surprising one for me as I don't need a lot of sleep - but I know how strong and good I feel when I do sometimes get 7 hours, so that's definitely going on the list

* writing

* cooking

* making great food choices and really choosing to nourish myself

* reading

* getting a massage

* having a clean and serene house

I was surprised at some - ok, mainly how much having a clean home environment means to me. but it gives the feeling of space and freedom and is the foundation from which I then feel inspired to do all the other things.

But now that I know the things that give me so much - so much - and create how I want to feel and be?

Well, these are the things I'm now prioritising in 2018 - whether I 'feel' like them or not.

And if I don't have time ... er, I do have time, I just need to prioritise these things above other things.

It's taken me a couple of weeks to think about this one, mull it over, let it brew, journaling day after day.

And it seems actually - for me to feel and be strong, serene, at one with the world, happy and creative - I just need to allow these things that make me feel that way be important.

I wholeheartedly encourage you to do this simple exercise too - and would love to know what your things are that you'll be making space and time for this year.

Happy New Year everyone x

WANT MORE?

Get weekly(ish) recipes, foodie stories and inspiration for a happy + healthy Tiniest Thai way of life.

You're someone who does a lot of different things - writing, designing, photography, coaching and mentoring, and of course created The Lifestyle Designers Club (which I love being a part of) but it seems to me there's a common thread of simplicity and mindfulness and creating moments and things of beauty.

I've noticed that your food photos are also very beautiful and have a lovely simplicity to the look of them.

Would you agree? Can you tell us a bit more about your philosophy of life?

And is that also your philosophy when it comes to food too?

RR: I'd totally agree with you, although I didn't notice at first.

Seeing the simplicity in the food I enjoy only came when I started sharing some of the meals I ate, and how simple they always looked on the plate.

But you're right, I'm definitely a LESS IS MORE kinda person.

If it's on my plate - or for design, if it's on my website, or tee, or stationery - it's going to be put and placed there for a reason.

I like everything to have SPACE to be fully enjoyed and appreciated, and when it comes to food, every flavour enjoyed fully.

Has how you eat changed over your life, and if so, can you share how?

YES, big time!

I was the fussiest (and slowest) eater as a kid. I mainly ate processed foods and sweets, I'd turn my nose up at most fruit and veggies.

Now, totally different story.

Sure I'll have a take out from time to time, but I prefer most of my foods now REAL and as fresh as can be, for example I love going to the farmers market on a Sunday where there's not a single processed food in sight!

What are your food memories growing up? What did you really love?

Honestly, I don’t really have any. My food memories and habits aren’t good or productive ones.

Enjoying food has become a learned thing through life, mainly starting when I was twenty or so...

Is food an important part of your life now?

Yeah it is. I see it so differently now and definitely believe you are what you eat.

I only have one body so I want to take care of it as best I can, and give it the best most nutritious foods I can.

Do that mean I'm 'perfect' and just eat avocados and kale?

No way, but I do try and east mostly fresh, real and organic food (and enjoy the other bits on occasion).

What do you choose to eat when it's just you - when you're cooking for yourself?

Something on toast!

But again, with 'real' fresh from the bakers bread. Top it with scrambled eggs, some mushroom, bacon, homemade guacamole...

Well, that's a happy me.

What are some of your favourite foods?

I LOVE smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, served with a generous grind of fresh black pepper and squeeze of lemon juice.

I also love having a great big bowl of veggies, my fave being a bowlful of sweet potato fries served with green beans and tender broccoli cooked on a grill pan with nothing more than a little olive oil and some salt and pepper.

Simple, but so good. If I'm feeling indulgent I'll top it with some blue cheese or feta.

Do you enjoy cooking?

I do it it’s simple and quick and I get a tasty meal at the end.

It’s not my thing to spend HOURS in the kitchen.

What's the best meal you've ever had?

I have two.

One in New Zealand, I think it was the day after I arrived. I was tired and jet lagged and found some sweet bread (similar to Chelsea buns) from one of the supermarkets and devoured it in one of the parks on the way back to the hostel, too tired to wait - and it was something just about being there, and feeling free, with the whole trip ahead of me and adventures still to come...

It felt good and exciting (and delicious) despite how tired I was.

Another with my guy the first time we went to our favourite restaurant - Bully's in Cardiff. The food was good but was just laughed and laughed and laughed the whole night.

To be fair, a tonne of my best meal memories are about the good food, but also about the company and laughter shared over it.

Also, in one of the arcade's there's an Indian Street Food place called 3B's, that's REALLY good too!

And now I just want to ask .. .you do such a variety of things - is there such a thing as a typical day for you and what does that look like?

Hmmmn, I'm not sure I have a totally 'typical' day.

I try and time block certain things as much as possible (my head goes crazy crazy if I'm darting all over the place switching from task to task), but it depends what project I'm working on at the time.

Right now I'm creating a new week long workshop which is taking place in December, so today went like this:

- Register for two new Trademarks over breakfast

- After getting dressed and ready, head down to the sea (which I'm fortunate to have at the bottom of my garden) to record the workshop videos

- Once recorded, drive to the local coffee shop for a couple hours of work

It looked terrible (and I knew it, but I'd never blogged before, never tried to do this, and I couldn't make it look how I wanted. So I let that go).

It was called Racey's Thai Cooking (Racey's a family nickname).

And this was a year and a bit on! I kept adding content, even though I was stuck on how to make it look good.

It was the first time I'd written something that wasn't an email or report or a presentation in YEARS (and years and years).

And it was the start of a total passion - sharing recipes, food, writing, that has lead to so many other things - including creating The Tiniest Thai supperclub and the Thai Diet ... and lead to meeting so many new friends.

It was terrifying pressing publish that first time.

My writing didn't flow.

I honestly worried people would laugh at me.

I thought maybe I should have posted a few recipes/posts/blogs before announcing I was doing this - not 'launch' it with just that one post.

But what felt right to me then - and has done ever since - is to SAY you're doing something .... and then you kinda have to DO IT.

I'm better with a deadline and/or some accountability!

It was also a time in my life where I'd made a huge decision to focus on creating space to find what I loved doing.

At the same time, it was in many ways one of the loneliest times in my life - where I realised that it was down to ME and only me - to create what I wanted, to create my life.

And. THANK YOU.

Thank you to everyone for not only not laughing (why do we even have those stupid thoughts?) but for supporting and encouraging and even - a million more THANK YOUs - trying my recipes and commenting and sharing - and coming to my supperclub.

To celebrate four years, I'm going to be doing a couple of celebration supperclub/parties - on me of course - so comment or message me if you'd like to come (and if you've been before I'll be messaging you to invite you. Soon as I've worked out what dates I can actually do).

It's been a truly transformational four years.

When I started blogging it was about something much bigger than blogging.

It was starting again - choosing to do something just because I wanted to and wanted to do something creative.

Something that was in me but hadn't had any outlet at all.

And it has been - and IS - something much bigger than that for me.

It's truly been life changing to see what happens when you choose what you really want to do and make time and space for that - and then see all the opportunities and connections and things you couldn't even see or think would happen... come from that.

Just start. Totally imperfect and scared.

Whatever it is that's calling you, nagging inside you.

WANT MORE?

Get weekly(ish) recipes, foodie stories and inspiration for a happy + healthy Tiniest Thai way of life.

I see you, feeling like maybe it's too late, you're too old ... mourning the body you didn't appreciate when you were younger.

Wondering if actually, maybe you'll never in your life be happy and comfortable in your skin.

As we were as children when we and our bodies were one - when our life was a physical one and we climbed trees and played and ate and ran and slept and did it all so easily.

Wondering if it's now inevitable.

Is it too late? Is this just how it is?

We've been having good lives, eating good food and yes, over the years, putting on the weight.

And now ... it feels like maybe it's too late. That this will keep happening, and maybe that's just how it is.

It's inevitable ...

I'm here to say I see you.

I was exactly the same. I was scared, actually, really scared that it was too late and that not only would I not be able to lose the weight and feel happy again in my body, but in fact the weight would now just keep creeping on.

And I'm here to say NO, that's not true.

Not only that, but that when I made the decision to face the facts, get on the scales - and then the decision that I WAS going to lose the weight?

Well, you might not believe me when I said after that it was easy.

But it was.

The hard bit, the really scary bit, was that decision ... the decision not to keep letting it creep on, not to keep hiding from it but to come out and SAY IT.

I'm unhappy at this size.

I'm uncomfortable.

I don't feel at one in my skin.

I'm scared.

After that ... it was easy.

I felt back in control - and that's a huge thing.

And I saw results fast - tiny results, sure, but results - and that's so motivating.

I didn't want to go on a diet, not me who loves cooking and food.

I realised I could create my own - that all these years of cooking and of reading and studying cooking and nutrition ... I don't know why I didn't think of it before.

And that's how the Tiniest Thai diet (named after my supperclub, The Tiniest Thai in London) - based on easy principles of a Thai-inspired way of eating came about.

It's for us.

Women probably in their forties or fifties, who love cooking and eating ... who would never want to go on a restrictive, bland, temporary 'diet' (again).

This time, something changed in me - and in those who've joined the Thai Diet Revolution - and I've lost the weight for ever - and somehow, slowly, at last changed my relationship with food and eating forever.

In a way that means I still love both food and eating.

So, I see you.

And I believe in you and know you can do this too.

If you choose.

PS. We are LIVE again!

Come and join the Thai Diet Revolution - we start another live 8-week program on Monday 11 September!

WANT MORE?

Get weekly(ish) recipes, foodie stories and inspiration for a happy + healthy Tiniest Thai way of life.

I think a little piece of all our hearts remains in Paris - however mad it sounds, even if we've never been .. you know it when you get there, there's always a little sense of coming home.

We wanted Paris and we wanted Montmartre and the little apartment was perfect, on the top (fourth) floor, on the Rue Muller which leads to the steps which lead to the Sacré-Cœur Basilica.

The Sacré-Cœur. I cry every time I light a candle there and feel the overwhelming sense of history turning. Those candles that never go out, that each light another, as lives light other lives. I think of history, of people gone before, of my place in the world, my place right here in this place in the world.

There's no getting away from the fact that we live in times that are tense too - the day we arrived there had been another terror attack on soldiers in Paris.

It makes you feel the hand of history even more, I think, and the emotions of the fragility of life and the endurance too.

The Sacré-Cœur is breathtaking and overwhelming and also brings such a sense of peace.

There is a service taking place and the nuns sing and we take seats and stay to breathe it all in, take it all in, take these moments.

We go back the next day too, to take it all again and carry that essence with us, before we leave.

In the mornings, I stick my head out the little skylight window above the bed in the mezzanine bedroom where you can't stand up straight and see the Sacré-Cœur again.

And we go to the 'Amelie' cafe, Cafe des Deux Moulins and, bien sur, had the crème brûlée (after my niece has camembert with honey and thyme, and I have steak tartare), and we both have red wine.

We stay up talking over bread and wine and cheese from the very good supermarket just five minutes walk away.

We go out for fresh bread and croissants first thing and to sit with a coffee in the sunshine, before returning for breakfast chez nous.

Later when it rains we choose one of the many gorgeous-looking bistros - Le Sancerre - on the Rue des Abbesses and journal and write companionably together over French onion soup (her) and oysters with a glass of Sancerre (me).

When the sun is out we browse and walk and discover ... from the huge fabric shop Le Marche St Pierre to peeping into the Museum of Montmartre and the Renoir Gardens to choosing macarons in the most beautiful little shop.

We walk and walk and walk - and up and down so many flights of steps!

Usually the app on my phone shows 3-4 flights of steps climbed every day, sometimes up to 8 or 9 ... in Montmartre it was 48 flights one day and 37 the next!

We walk to my favourite restaurant for dinner - Bouillon Chartier - after queuing as always to get in, we love the bustle and noise and people-watching.

And the escargots, bread, steak haché and frites ... and all at such incredible value.

One last evening walk for a last cocktail sitting outside as it grows dark and one last walk down the iconic steps back to the apartment.

We don't want to leave ... but at just a 15 minute walk to the Gare du Nord and the simplest journey on the Eurostar back to St Pancras, agree not to leave it so long before returning.

After all, a little piece of my heart lives here.

WANT MORE?

Get weekly(ish) recipes, foodie stories and inspiration for a happy + healthy Tiniest Thai way of life.

The habit of endlessly scrolling Facebook, looking for something, anything interesting and thought-provoking.

Oh and similarly, the habit of feeding yourself food that doesn't have the nourishment, the nutrition, your body needs and craves, so again you're left hungry, endlessly wanting more.

But what more?

Housework habits, 'duty' habits, oh-I-have-to-do-the-ironing habits ... then flop on the sofa for some TV.

THESE habits are often masking that you haven't CHOSEN your true 'YOU' habits.

Well, not so for everyone I guess.

I suppose some people genuinely choose to do these things (and for most people YES sometimes) ... and that's great ... but when it's not a choice, it's a mindless HABIT?

You know you can choose another habit?

Starting with perhaps how do you WANT to feel?

NOT how do you currently feel.

Giving in to the voice of the how you NOW feel will NEVER move you into being how you WANT to feel, to be.

You have to consciously choose it.

How you want to feel and who you want to be.

The person who gets home after a long day (ok, many long days, this isn't a one-off) and eats a takeaway full of goodness-knows-what whilst slumped in terrible posture watching - well, do you even know what? - on TV.

YES, sometimes.

But also, YES you're exhausted and stressed and tired ... but you CAN also choose other habits.

It doesn't have to be hard.

Some things (including plenty of recipes on my site) are easier and quicker to cook fresh than to heat up or order in.

And it's all about TRUE self-care and looking after you.

That means choosing a shower, choosing a great book, choosing a quick stretch or yoga online practice to keep it easy (I do).

(I'm not saying you instantly turn into someone who wants to go to the gym at 9pm, but hey you MIGHT choose that, now you think about what you want to choose).

It might mean writing, journaling, a Skype with a friend, learning something new.

Habits become non-negotiables in your life (like cleaning your teeth).

Mine aren't (yet) always so, but I really, really now feel it and miss it when I don't for whatever reason DAILY:

- journal in the morning- make good food choices that nourish me (and taste great of course)- move my body in some way (usually Yoga With Adriene- personally I also love to cook so a day without cooking something makes me feel 'off'

Ha! Just caught myself I thinking I need to think of more than these three / four ... but WHY?

I'm all about making it easy and you know it's actually not always that easy to do those three or four key things.

Isn't that funny, how our human brains almost want to make things HARDER?!

These are my chosen habits - that make me feel great, give me a foundation for my day - when I do them I feel stronger, clearer, more able to get everything else done.

I'm going to choose to add in a short 10-minute meditation practice soon but for now making my journaling and yoga practice daily - allowing it to become daily - allowing that time for me, to say that time for me daily is precious, is a PRIORITY ...

I'm still learning to make that my reality.

What are - or will be - your chosen habits?

The ones that make you YOU, the you you choose to be?

WANT MORE?

Get weekly(ish) recipes, foodie stories and inspiration for a happy + healthy Tiniest Thai way of life.

I know, I know, right? I talk about this all the time in my diet group ... and yet ...

Sometimes you find yourself with words and thoughts that are still coming from that way of thinking.

So in Paris, last week, we were staying in an apartment on the top floor, four floors up.

And we were at the foot of the Sacre Coeur, climbing up and down those iconic steps with those lamposts many, many times a day.

Here's the screenshot of my steps/flights climbed app on my phone - yes, my usual number of flights climbed daily is around 3 or 4, going up to 10 on occasion.

In Paris, I did 48 and then 37.

Not deliberately - because that's just how it was.

And I was talking to my travel companion, my beautiful and clever niece, about how maybe when I got back I should try going up the 8 flights of stairs to my office ... (and UGH, I've tried it a couple of times and UGH).

She suggested I walk up four flights then get the lift the next floor ... and build it up.

I don't know why I haven't ever considered this before - but I hadn't.

I started doing it when I got back and it's perfect ....

What can you do to make things easier? Start them slower? Make it more sustainable, something to build on?

This was a great lesson for me ... and I'm now thinking where else I can apply it ...

WANT MORE?

Get weekly(ish) recipes, foodie stories and inspiration for a happy + healthy Tiniest Thai way of life.